“ It was when our first customer came and then the moment he entered this restaurant, I heared him say 'what a monochromatic place', and I was like ' that's a cool name for a restaurant, it sounds freaking elegant'.” He sounds excited like he's telling the best story he read- he even mimic how that first customer uttered the words.
That was what Sir Flinn said after I asked him how did they come up with naming the restaurant as ' Monochromatic'. His eyes are gleaming and I wonder that he doesn't know the meaning behind that word.Obviously.
This is our first day of work- a work which I am not sure if we will receive a good pay. A work without proper contract or anything legal. It's really complicated right now.
Miss Mia messaged Sir Flinn that she will take a day off since she can't bare witnessing the' worst decisions' for the business. I chuckled lightly and I really admire Miss Mia for her honesty.
We arrived early today and I got surprised to see Sir Flinn waiting outside. He's wearing a baggy pants and a white polo paired with leather shoes. Old man's fashion. When our eyes met, he immediately stood up and his lips formed into a smile. I saw how his blank face turned into a happy one. He's hiding his pain, I know. I am a veteran in this section.
It was eight in the morning and other stalls are already busy. While us, we are busy looking at them. I can already sense, by just looking at this four-cornered room, it is really hard for us to rise just like the other stall. Ours is the black sheep of the street. The first one to get close, but the earliest to open. We need to change a lot. From the name, the designs, the menu, the attitude of the staffs, and their still a long list ahead of what to change. But, the moment I decided to step in this small room, I know, this is a place for me.
We are now gathered up in a table. Tim beside me, and we're facing Sir Flinn. He's smiling and I don't know why. But when no one's looking at him, I'd catch him with a blank face- the tired and ' i am giving up ' face. I cleared my throat to tell them we are starting our ' business discussion'.
“This is our first meeting for the change of this dusty place.” I started. “So first of all, why is the business going down?” I asked looking at the both them.
“It never went up. It's always down.” Sir Flinn uttered in an almost whisper voice. Well, he has a point. I clicked the head of the pen and glanced at the doorway. “As you can see, other businesses are doing real fine, and ours should be like that today, but unluckily, we're the opposite of them.” I took a deep breathe after.
Sir Flinn suddenly frowned.
“That was deep.” His response was barely audible.
I tapped the table with an enough force to catch their full attention. Tim over-reacted and said he almost scream from surprise.
“ Any suggestions?”
“Change the name.” Tim responded with no energy.
“Aside from that?”
Sir Flinn stood up from sitting. He moved his chair and roam around in front of us. He put his hands on his pocket and stared at the view outside. My eyes keep on following him and waited for him to speak.
“How about...” He then stopped from his slow walking- which is weird because he really tries to look serious and tried to convince us that he's using his last braincells.
“ About?” I ask slowly like a Kindergarten teacher.
“Okay.” I spoke. “ We need to change the interior design, the menu ,how the staffs socialize with the customers and there's still a long list ahead after that.”
Sir Flinn went back to his chair and murmured something about the monochromatic thing. I almost screamed when there was a loud sound coming from slamming of the door. I turned my head to the direction and it was Miss Mia. Even though she is a low-tempered person, being here is highly appreciated. She sitted next to Sir Flinn and chew the gum in her mouth.
“ What now?” She spoke, breaking the silence and the stares.
“ I just can't get it why we need to change the name of our-”
“Cause it's boring.” Tim cutted off Sir Flinn who looked hurt.
“No. no, I mean Monochromatic means boring. I didn't mean to say it was boring by the word itself, but it is really boring. It means boring. Like literally.” Tim explained himself and Sir Flinn is listening attentively.
It took us a long time to convince Sir Flinn. After that, we tackled about important stuffs. Miss Mia suggested a new set of menu and we still need to take actions to agree over it.
It was three in the afternoon when I got the chance to talk with Miss Mia. “Thanks for coming.” I offered her a handshake and I got scared when she just stared at it. But after three seconds or more, she shake my hands and it warm my heart. “ I have anger issues.So bare with me.” Miss Mia laugh- a soft laugh that conceal her deepest untold battles and I can detect grief in her gorgeous dark brown eyes.
Tim and I walked home since the apartment is just a distance away. The wind was blowing with a warm breeze. The lonely streetlights and us.
“ You think we can make it?” I asked Tim.
“Well” Tim begins. “As for now, it seems unclear. But atleast we know our goals. It doesn't matter how long it will take for us to finally make it, as long as we know why we are doing this.”
I breathe a small sigh of relief.
“Do you not miss your parents?” He examined my face after.
“Of course I do. But I'm curious and I want to see where this adventure will take me.” My voice cracked in the middle part and I just suddenly thought what are they up to right now-are they happy? or mourning?
“But sometimes, I thought to myself that they have a lot of secrets to tell me. Why they made me an ignorant to the reality and made me believe life is a fairytale. I'm worried that I will see them one day and I still haven't found myself.” At last, I speak, my words rushing out in a choked whisper. I felt my eyes stinging and it was too late for me to stop myself from crying.
We finally reached the gate when he hold my hand. It touched my heartbeat for a second. It was just his soft hands but there's something that connects it to my soul. I feel my heart exploding. I can do nothing but look into his eyes. He brings his hand to my face and gently dries my tears with the pad of his thumb.
“ Don't worry too much, I believe in you. You are enough. No one can soothe the burdens you feel if you won't let go of the past. There's more sweet adventures ahead of you. Just take it easy, okay. I got you.”
We started our day by getting off the dust. It was awful since it's early in the morning and we just took our bath to get soaked with dust. The exterior of this stall is really unattractive. It doesn't make the customers interested of what's inside. The color of the wall is too pale and is unmatched to the atmosphere of the interior which is pretty dark. Just by staring at the stall, it's really impossible to have atleast 5 customers per day.We left the apartment earlier than the other days. I also prepare clothes for me to use if ever I got too untidy from cleaning. Miss Chim prepared us packs of sandwiches we can eat for snacks. There's a strawberry jammed sandwich and the other one is coatwd with cheese and ham. She is really the sweetest.The most exciting part of today is meeting Miss Mia's kids. She told us that they come to vi
Timothy Williams lied. I punched him many times but it wasn't too much like what he truly deserves. Everytime I ask him “ Was it true?” or “Did you really saw them?” His forehead wrinkled and his lips are slightly open, then he would reply “ I'm... quite unsure, I think.. it's just me or maybe... my eyes are getting worse.” Then I would punch him, again and he would act like he's hurt and fall to the ground.I couldn't sleep properly because of it. Even though he already admitted it was a lie, there's still a part of me keeps on believing it.'Cause what if they are here?Are they searching for me?Are they worried?Will they take me back to that small village?And if they are really here, I shouldn't be afraid. They can't force me to go back to where I came from. Two decades are enough for me to get st
“Tim!” I shouted as I knock on his door. It's already 8 in the morning and he still didn't show himself for breakfast.I got tired from knocking and walked downstairs. I saw Miss Chim so I took the chance to ask her, but she spoke before me.“Oh, Kathareen. ” she said and then wiped his wet hands with her apron. “ Tim left earlier. He said it's an urgent emergency.”“Emergency?” I repeated for assurance.She nod and took some eggs in the refrigerator. “He don't want to wake you up since you are tired.” I froze. Speechless.After hearing it, I said goodbye to Miss Chim and excuse myself for not being with her in the breakfast table. I took the bus so I could be there faster. I got no idea what is the emergency all about.I can a
It was already weeks since Merliah's funeral. It was a day of loud cries. Seeing an angel inside a coffin. Her classmates came that time. They would say, “ She's just sleeping,right?”, “When will she wake up? We haven't finish our homeworks yet. Can you wake her up?”. It broke my heart into million pieces.I always keep my eyes on Kira and Miss Mia. I know, they are the most affected here. I would sometime catch Kira crying in the corner when no one's looking. I couldn't afford to see her like that. No words could comfort her, tight hugs are what I can give.Miss Mia- she's the bravest. When someone sends their condolences, she would give them a warm smile, trying really hard to not break down. I admire her that. I want to give her a hug every minute to let her feel that she's alone in this battle. Even though she's strong enough to carry all th
Miss Mia smiled brightly and clapped her hands. “ I love it!”Tim and I exchanged look of disbelief. It's just- like.. lighting.I thought they are just joking, but we are really opening tomorrow. TOMORROW. I kept on asking Sir Flinn what he meant by tomorrow. Then he took his dictionary and said," the day after today".They put the soft carpet covering the the dirty floor, then the lightings.Finalize the arrangement of chairs and tables. Placed the flower vase in the middle of each table that are being covered with soft white fabric.I scanned the whole stall and it was far from how it looked before.“How about the menu?” I asked Miss Mia.She gave me a proud nod.She patted my shoulder and
Mom walked going to my direction. Her eyes are in perfect despair. She colored her hair and now dark brown from being blonde. Seeing her going nearer to me is like the chances of being back to that village is getting bigger. Seeing her took me to flash back from being a prisoner of my own life. How I isolate myself thinking no one wants to be with me, how I waste all the years and life's only revolves inside a small place, and how I need to escape just to find a home. Before she could get a hold of me, I immediately run going out. I saw how customers gazed at me-they don't have any idea of what's going on. I heard Mom screamed my name-like the day Dad slapped me and Sir Flinn asking
Days pass since that day. A lot of changes happened.But there's a lot of things that stayed the same. Our store is filled with customers everyday.I sometimes feel different when Sir Flinn would call me his granddaughter, it's heartwarming.The first time he hug me as a granddaughter, he cried. I let go the last because I want to feel his soul. Guess being a veteran at hiding emotions runs in our blood. I don't want to ruin my relationship with Sir Flinn, he's part of my home and I don't want to mess anything with him. He didn't do anything to make me burst in madness, he's the man who help me and he's has a space in my heart.I wish I knew him when I was a child. He's not a typical grandpa who's back is aching. He's tough physically and mentally.But everything happens for a reason- I may not know him sooner as my grandfather, atleast I know him as Sir F
I haven't got a long sleep. I've been awake since we went home and now here I am sitting on the floor preparing my clothes and other stuffs. They really mean it when they said "tomorrow evening". They didn't listen to me when I told them it's quite early and we need to plan it. Miss Mia laughed at me and told me I'm like a kid who's scared of adventure. It was only a joke, but it's really true.When we are already in the apartment, Tim rush to his room and gave me a quick goodnight. He's excited, really. He was even talking about the foods he want to eat during the camp, the first thing he'll do, or the time he'll go to sleep. I don't know what will happen with this unplanned trip, but there's one thing I am sure of, we will be the happiest.This will be my first time going on a camp. Since I was a kid, I would ask Dad how being in a camp feels like. He'd tell me, it's a great feeling.